Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, has accused Al Jazeera journalist, Mehdi Hasan of engaging in what he described as opposition-style journalism during a recent interview.
Bwala made the claim while speaking on News Central’s
programme, 60 Minutes with Mr Kay, aired on Friday, where he reviewed his
interview with Hasan.
According to him, the journalist’s approach was not neutral
but aimed at challenging and discrediting the government.
“What Mehdi Hasan did was what we call opposition-style
journalism, where you play the role of the opposition,” Bwala said.
He alleged that the interview was designed to extract
statements that could be used against the administration.
“In that interview, Mehdi sought to elicit information from
me to discredit the government, but he could not,” he added.
Bwala explained that a large part of the interview focused
on his past political criticisms of President Bola Tinubu, which he
acknowledged but said were not relevant to the main discussion.
“In the first 15 minutes, he kept asking about things I said
when I was in the opposition. I admitted them, but I asked that we move on to
the purpose of the interview,” he said.
He further claimed that the repeated focus on his past
statements affected the flow of the discussion.
“He continued on that line, and at a point I warned him that
if he kept going that way, I would deny it. He still continued, and that was
why I reacted that way,” Bwala stated.
The presidential aide maintained that despite the tense
exchange, he handled the interview properly and remained focused on defending
the government’s position.
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